Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Pineapple - Ginger Chicken Stir Fry

The other day I was going through some recipes and this one caught my eye. My version is loosely adapted from a Donna Hay recipe. She's an Australian food writer and stylist who always makes everything look so good. Australian food is based on many different cultures as they have had immigrants from all over the world including English/Irish (of course), Greek, Italian, Indian and many other Asian countries. Because of all these cultures there's a lot of fusion food there. And everything is FRESH and beautiful.

Anyway, this one caught my eye, but I didn't pay full attention as the recipe was written in metric measurements (which I have to think too much about). And so, I knew the generalities of the recipe, but just went from there to develop something a little more "useful" to me. Thanks, Donna.

One helpful tip I do have is about ginger. Fresh ginger is great, but many people may not have ever worked with it before. You should be able to find it at any grocery store- it looks like a tangle of knobby tan roots. The good thing is that you don't have to buy all of it, just break off a piece... whatever you think you'll use!

A peeler is unnecessary when removing the papery tan skin. It's much easier than that (and besides, you may end up wasting ginger when taking the peel off). Instead, use a spoon. If you use a little pressure when scraping the skin with a spoon it will come off very easily.

You will want to slice it thinly, and if you have a mandoline it will make things much faster and easier. However, there's no problem with using a knife.

This is actually pretty simple to make and very good. Although a couple of the ingredients may be a little strange if you're not used to Asian cooking (I included a couple links if anyone is interested).

It makes a nice (summery) weeknight dinner- all you need is some steamed white rice.

It was very good with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. I didn't try it, but it might be good with a sprinkle of chopped toasted peanuts, too.

Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is browned in spots and cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate. In the same pan add the pineapple, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, green onions, sugar, chicken broth, oyster and Hoisin sauces. Cook for a few minutes until it reduces a little and becomes and sticky. Return the chicken to the pan, stir to combine and heat through. Top with cilantro, serve with rice and lime wedges.

Well, like I always say "Cilantro is really like coconut- there are people who like it, and people who hate it." I'm not a big fan of cilantro so I didn't use it but the dish was delicious!! I was surprised at how well it turned out. Thanks for the recipe Natalie!

About Me

Hello, my name is Natalie.
I'm an omnivore with some vegetarian tendencies.
I love to pore over cookbooks, browse good food photography, and voraciously read food literature.
Food is an art.
I'm interested in the history and origins of foods, and I find food science fascinating.
Travel and exploration are a couple of my loves- I've been to Mexico (but never the beach), Guatemala, England, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Sicily, Malta, Gabon, and Australia- several places multiple times. I'd go anywhere though!
I cook a little for work and a lot for pleasure.
Favorite cuisines include French, Italian, and California.
Though I have two other jobs in addition, in real life my education is as an occupational therapist (mostly with experience in orthopedics), and I think about working in private practice OT one of these days with children who have a variety of disabilities while using cooking as therapy for things such as tactile defensiveness and fine motor control.
I don't have formal culinary training. Anything I know is from trial-and-error, reading, experience, and what others have shared with me.